Microbial Community of Small Intestine in Acute Severe Pancreatitis Patients: a Pilot Study

BackgroundPathogenesis and development of systemic inflammation in acute pancreatitis is associated with the homeostasis disruption. One of the reasons is the impaired intestinal barrier function and infiltration of gut bacteria into systemic circulation. To date, the structure of the small intestine microbiome in patients with pancreatitis has not been elucidated. This pilot study aim was to describe the small intestinal microbiota composition in patients with acute pancreatitis and investigate its association with the disease severity.MethodsIn this study, microbiome of small intestine washing samples from acute pancreatitis patients was analyzed via high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing. The samples were collected from 7 patients of various disease severity during an endoscopy.ResultsHigh disease severity was associated with lower relative abundance of Neisseria mucosa and Parvimonas micra species - typical inhabitants of mucus layer - as well as Megasphaera micronuciformis. The proportion of Streptococcus (S. rubneri/parasanguinis/australis species), Actinomyces and genera from Enterobacteriaceae family was, on the contrary, higher. Two samples were collected within 24 hours of each other from a patient with high severity degree in the course of enteral infusion by salt electrolyte solution (SES). Comparison of these samples showed a shift of the community structure towards one typical for the patients with a milder disease status.ConclusionsThe results suggest links between severe acute pancreatitis complications and intestinal mucus layer thinning. Further investigations of these effects may help discover new approaches to treatment of the disease.